


Z

by neversaydie



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Scars, Wakanda, kissing scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 22:08:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7987900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neversaydie/pseuds/neversaydie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve has been absently stroking his fingertips over Bucky’s scars, the livid points on his skin that never fully healed and faded to slick pink or silvery white at best. He’d leaned down to kiss the nearest, the vivid zigzag on Bucky’s inner bicep that always catches his eye, when Bucky shuddered and spoke up, voice low like he was releasing something long-held rather than voluntarily forming words. </p><p>"That's the first one."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Z

**Author's Note:**

> originally for a prompt on tumblr @saferforeveryone

“That’s the first one.”

Bucky says it quietly, one night when the sounds of Wakanda’s capital are far beneath their high-rise apartment and home feels closer and further away than it’s ever been. Steve is shirtless in the heat, because the sun only went down half an hour ago, and even Bucky has conceded to shedding his preferred layers down to just an undershirt. It’s been a quiet evening, long and treacle slow in the height of summer, and they’re both stretched out on the wooden floor beside the couch because it’s too hot for leather on skin. 

Steve has been absently stroking his fingertips over Bucky’s scars, the livid points on his skin that never fully healed and faded to slick pink or silvery white at best. He’d leaned down to kiss the nearest, the vivid zigzag on Bucky’s inner bicep that always catches his eye, when Bucky shuddered and spoke up, voice low like he was releasing something long-held rather than voluntarily forming words. 

“After Azzano. They pumped me full of… whatever it was. I was out of it, delirious, I don’t remember much of that part. But I came round, so they had to check if it worked.” He flexes his arm muscle slightly, like he’s got phantom sensations running over his nerves. Steve checks his expression, but the only thing on Bucky’s face is mild interest, if that. He’s just reciting facts. “They cut me deep enough to sever an artery, let me bleed out while they watched. But I healed before I went cold. So they did it again, and again, just to make sure.”

He glances down at his arm for a fleeting moment before he’s avoiding the scar again, and Steve’s pretty sure it’s the first time he’s actually seen Bucky look at himself like that. It leaves his mouth dry, a strange, sad weight crushing the breath out of him in slow-motion. 

“It was the first one that scarred. Fucking Zola. Couldn’t even stop being an egomaniac with a knife in his hand.” Bucky lets his head fall back to stare at the ceiling fan doing lazy circles above them, and it’s only when Steve hears the name that everything clicks with a sickening crunch. 

It’s not a zigzag, the scar. It’s a _Z_.


End file.
